India leapfrogged New Zealand [Images] into fourth place in the annual update of the ICC [Images] ODI championship table.

Rahul Dravid's [Images] team, which has gained one place, now finds itself just two points behind third-placed Pakistan while the Kiwis are a further two points behind.

India has moved up by virtue of strong performances over the past year, including series win against Sri Lanka [Images], Pakistan and England [Images] and a drawn series against South Africa [Images].

It, however, lost 1-4 to West Indies [Images] on their recent tour of the Caribbean.

World champion Australia's [Images] lead over second-placed South Africa has been cut to eight rating points. The gap was 13 points last year.

The annual update, which includes results from matches played after August 1, 2003, is carried out to ensure the championship table continues to reflect recent form with older results being discarded.

The Proteas' improved rating is down to a turnaround in fortunes in the past 18 months.

In January last year, they were languishing in seventh place but has since enjoyed a strong run of form culminating in a 3-2 series win over Australia.  The rankings of most of the other teams are largely unchanged by the update.

Bangladesh's gradual improvement is reflected by it gaining eight rating points and it now trails Zimbabwe by only two. The Asian team can overtake the African side during the upcoming five-match series starting July 29.